COUNCILLORS have vowed to fight to keep a sixth form college open.

The Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) announced on its website last week that it would be holding a consultation to decide whether to shut the sixth form between September 2020 and September 2022.

Councillor for North Portslade Cllr Peter Atkinson said: “I’m very surprised, shocked and also disappointed by this news.

“We are going to ask them to turn over every stone, we want to look at any way that is humanly possible to keep it open.”

The academy will hold a parents’ evening on January 21 to discuss the possible closure with parents, and plan have said they will announce the dates for the consultation process shortly.

Cllr Atkinson said: “I have had a lot of people contact me since the announcement and they are very upset.

“They want to get into the consultation as soon as possible.”

In its statement, the school said that It said predicted enrolment numbers were too low to offer students a full curriculum.

Cllr Atkinson said: “It will mean that Portslade and Mile Oak do not have a local sixth form.

“You can understand the reasons for the closure as they are written down, but it’s still extremely worrying for residents in the area.

“The added time their children are on the roads and commuting costs will be a concern for any parent.”

He said that he and his fellow councillors in the area are “working hard to clarify the details” and praised the school’s recent performance.

Cllr Atkinson said: “PAChas come on in leaps and bounds and now it’s a transformed school.

“The difficulty with this situation is we would not want it to effect the rest of the school and worry people who have children attending it.”

Cllr Atkinson responded to the consultation on behalf of his fellow Portslade councillors, Cllr Penny Gilbey, Cllr Les Hamilton and Cllr Alan Robins.

He said: “We were surprised and extremely disappointed at this news. It leaves Portslade with no sixth form of its own.

“We would ask the Aldridge Academy to urgently look again at their decision and would encourage all parents and local people in general to respond to the consultation that the school are running.

“None of this should take away from how far PACA has come in the last few years in terms of educational results but we are very worried at the prospect of losing the sixth form, even on a temporary basis .”

The councillors offered support to any parents who want to contact them.